Material spreading mechanism



July 24, 1962 H. J. DoNELsoN, JR 3,045,840

MATERIAL SPREADING MECHANISM vFiled June 30, 1961 3 Sheets-$hee1-I 1July 24, 1962 H, J, DONELSQN, JR 3,045,840

MATERIAL SPREADING MECHANISM Filed June 30, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /YOM/@TMll/.95 177101675/ .5'

July 24, 1962 H. J, DQNELSON, JR 3,045,840

MATERIAL SPREADING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 30, 1961 Kil!INVENTOR.

5g/2W- l/OPA/f/S BY wf Mam/omyo/V Je United States Patent O 3,045,840MATERIAL SPREADENG MECHANESM Harlan J. Donelson, Jr., Marshalltown, IowaFiled .lune 30, 1961, Ser. No.. 121,102 11 Claims. (Cl. 21d-17) Thisinvention relates to a material spreading means and more particularly toa spreader that will evenly and uniformly deposit material such askernels of corn, silage, beans and the like in closed storage spaceareas such as granaries, silos, and the like.

The desirability of uniform density of materials in these storage areashas only become knowingly critical in rather recent times. The necessitybecame apparent with the new type of granaries wherein the material wasaerated and/ or dry heated as it liowed into the storage housing. Theair or heated air is passed tln'cugl'i the granary from bottom to top.lt is the custom to pour the grain or the like through a spout into thegr-anary from its top. The gra-in will first pile up in the bottomcentral area of the storage space and therefore will be much more denseor compact in such poured area than that of the surrounding area. Thismeans that in the drying phase, the surrounding area will besuccessfully treated while the compacted area will not.

Furthermore, when the grain `or like piles up in a frusto-cone insidethe bin, great downwardly and outwardly pressures are created, which may`well distort or break the side Walls of the bin. It is because of theseproblems that it has been the practice to place one or two workers withshovels in the granary lto move the grain or like around and to keep ithorizontally level during the time it is being poured into the top ofthe bin.

Obviously, such work is most difficult as it is under heat and dustconditions.

Some effort has been to improve the situation and mechanical deviceshave been produced such `as is shown in my issued United States LettersPatent No. 2,980,009 issued April 18, 1961, on a Spreader for ConfinedAreas. While `this device was a considerable improvement over oldmethods, it did have certain shortcomings. Firstly, it did notautomatically compensate for changing volume or grain or like beingintroduced into the device. Secondly, there `was no provision forchanging nor ad justing the scattering means to meet differentconditions. The present invention is an improvement on the devicedisclosed in my herebefore referred to issued patent.

Therefore, one ot the principal objects of my invention is to provide ameans that will successfully, uniformly and evenly spread grain or thelike into a granary or the like during the placement of the materialinto such storage space, and regardless of the changing volume ofmaterial being fed into the device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a scatter means for usewhen pouring material into la storage area that eliminates the need ofworkmen within the storage area at any time.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a materialscattering means for granaries that cleans the objectionable chaff, dirtand the like from the material as it is being deposited 4in the storagearea.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a materialspreader for granaries or like that has adjustable material scatteringblades.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a poweredmaterial spreader means that has a self cleaning belt driven powerpulley Wheel.

A still fur-ther object of my invention is to provide a materialspreader for confined areas that is economical of manufacture anddurable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, andcombination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated -are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side sectional View of my device in use,

HG. 2 is a bottom view of a portion of the scatter wheel taken from line2--2 of FlG. l,

FlG. 3 is la `top plan view of my device,

PEG. 4 is an enlarged perspective exploded view of the parts thatcontrol the movement of the grain or like passing through the device,

PEG. 5 is an enlarged side sectional view of a portion of the scatter4wheel illustrating the vertical adjustment of one of the materialscattering bars,

FlG. 6 is an end view of the scattering bar shown in FIG. 5 and is takenfrom line 6-6 of that tigure, and

IG. 7 is a side sectional of my device installed and in use.

in `trie drawings l have designated the ordinary granary by the numeral1li, having lthe top central opening 11. The numeral 12 designates aconduit :having its outlet end communicating with the inside bottom ofthe granary and its other end adapted to be in communication with asource of air or heated air under pressure. Such air flow may be throughthe granary during and/or after the placement of Ithe material in thegranary. l have used the numeral 13 to designate material such as grainor the like. lt is with such a storage space that I use my device andwhich l will now describe in detail. The numeral 15 designates avertical tube housing open at both ends, and having a diameter less thanthat of the diameter of the opening 11 of the granary. Secured in theopen upper end portion of the tube 15 in an upwardly flared tubularmember 16 as shown in FIG. 1. The numeral 1'7 designates a plurality ofour hook arms secured by bolt means 19 to the upper outer portion 0f theared tubular member 16. These spaced apart hook arms 17 are verticallyadjustably mounted on the member 16 by the member 16 having a plurality`of bolt receiving holes 2t). When the device is installed for use, thearms 17 hook over the rim of the top opening of the granary, therebysupporting the entire unit downwardly `within the upper portion of thegranary as shown in FIG. 7. The tubular members 15 and 16 provide themain housing of the device and the upper end of the tubular member 16 isof a diameter less than that of the diameter of the upper open end 11 ofthe granary. The numeral Z1 designates a funnel shaped materialreceiving hopper vertically adjustably secured in the upper end portion`of the tubular member 16. The diameter of the lower portion of thehopper 2.1 lis much less than that of the diameter of the tubular member16 and it lis held in spaced relationship to the tubular member I16 bybrackets 22. The hopper 21 is vertically adjustable by any suitablemeans. In the drawings I sho-W bolt means 23 extending through thebrackets 22 and through vertical slots 25 through the wall of thehopper. The numeral 26 designates a centrally located vertical bearingin the lower portion of the tubular member 15. T his bearing member issupported and held by the bolt means 27 as shown in FIG. 1. The numeral29 designates a vertical rotatably mounted shaft journaled in thebearing 26. This shaft Z9 extends upwardly into the flared tubularportion 1o and is prevented from downward sliding movement by aretaining stop wall Ell engaging the upper end of the bearing 26.Rigidly secured on lthe lower end of the shaft 29 and directly below thebottom of the tubular member is the large belt pulley wheel 31 havingthe radially extending spokes 32 as shown lin FIG. 2. This wheel 31 hasa diameter slightly greater than that of the diameter of the tubularmember 1S and its upper outer rim portion extends upwardly to ahorizontal plane slightly above the bottom horizontal plane of themember 15. The numeral 33 designates a =Cshaped bracket secured to theouter side of the tubular member 15. The numeral 35 designates avertical rod rotatably but not slidably mounted on the bracket 33. Theupper end portion 36 of the rod 35 is bent to extend horizontally and toextend horizontally about the top of lthe flared tubular member i6. Thenumeral 37 designates a bracket secured to the upper end of the tubularmember i6. The numeral 39 designates a control lever having one endhingedly secured `to the outer end portion of the portion 36 of the rod35 and its other end slidably extending over the bracket 37. The numerali6 designates a wing nut extending through the bracket 37 and through alongitudinal slot i1 in the arm 39' as shown in PEG. 3. By thisarrangement of parts the position rotation of the rod 35 may beadjustably selected and locked. The numeral 42 designates a plate on thelower end portion of the rod 35. `The numeral 4S designates an electricmotor horizontally adjusta-bly secured to the plate ll2 by a bolt meansd6. The power shaft i7 of the motor extends downwardly and has securedto its lower end the variable pitch pulley wheel t9. The numeral 5ddesignates an endless belt embracing the pulley wheels 3i and 49.Secured to the lower end of the bracket 33 is a bar having its lengthloosely embracing the belt 56 and with one of its ends extending intothe groove of the pulley wheel 31 substantially directly -between thepulley wheel 49 and the pulley wheel 31 and at a point where the endlessbelt 36 is not engaging the pulley wheel 3d. The purpose of the end ofthe member so extending into ythe groove of the pulley wheel 31 is toautomatically clear it of any foreign material that might collect in thepulley wheel groove. By the bent bar 51 loosely embracing the belt Sti,the belt even if it were to become detached from the pulley wheel 31 orpulley wheel 49 would be retained and prevented from yfalling downwardlyinto the bin and lost. By the arm 39 being adjustably positionable themotor may be swung horizontally to tighten the belt 5d or swung in theopposite direction to so loosen it that the pulley wheel 31 will not berotated. This loosening of the belt 5@ on the pulley wheel 49, by itsretention thereon, is aided by the bent bar 51 loosely embracing thebelt. Therefore, the rotation of the pulley wheel 3i is controllablefrom a position at the top of the granary. When the device is installed,the grain or like 13 is deposited in the hopper 21 by any suitableconveyor means 152. The material placed in the hopper portion 21 willmove downwardly yfrom the open bottom end of the hopper into the twoportions 15' and 16 and thence downwardly and outwardly therefrombetween the spokes 32 of the pulley Wheel 31. Therefore, it is necessaryfor the scattering action to be affected by lthe rotating `spokes of thelarge pulley wheel 31. To encourage this scattering action of thematerial as it falls through the pulley wheel 31, I provide materialengaging scatter bar means 55 on each of the spokes 32 of the pulleywheel 31. I find that under different conditions and `for differentmaterials, different types of scatter bars are desirable. Even with agiven material being placed in the bin, the scatter bar means on thevarious spokes of the pulley wheel 31 should differ .from each other.All of the scatter `bar means regardless of type have a at base port-ion56 which is secured by bolts 57 to the underside of a spoke 32. Eachscatter bar :means also has a downwardly extending flange portion 59with its inner corner end 60 bent downwardly and laterally to catch thefalling grain las shown in FIG. 1. The scatter bar means may belongitudinally adjustable on the spokes by having the bolt means extendto slot openings 61 of the base portion as shown in FIG. 2. The widthsand lengths of the downwardly extending flange portions 59 may andshould vary. Also, at least on some of the scatter bars I provide ahorizontally extending flange 62. The length of this horizontalelongated flange 62 extends downwardly and outwardly and is spaced apartand above the inner belt corner end portion 66. This elongated bar 62may extend upwardly to a position above `a spoke 32 as shown by brokenlines in FIG. l.

Obviously if the material entering the hopper 21 was fed into the hopperat a proper uniform rate, the material would be evenly scattered anddistributed in the bin. To obtain a proper flow of material through thedevice and to even properly spread it within the device and before it isengaged by the material scattering bar means, it is necessary to providea material control means directly below the open end of the hopper 21.However, the material feeding means 52 is not even as to volume iiow andtherefore the control means must automatically adjust to ycompensate fortheir handling periodical large amounts of material in the hopper. Iwill now describe how this control portion of my device functions. Theupper end portion of the shaft 29 is formed into a spiral auger portion65. Slidably mounted on the upper portion of the shaft 29 is anelongated member 66. This elongated member 66 extends upwardly withinthe center area of the hopper 21 and has on its lower portion ahorizontal radial plate 67 positioned below the bottom open end of thehopper 21 as shown in FIG. l. The numerals 69 and 70 designate twoparallel spaced apart parts extending through the elongated member 66and engaging each side respectively of the auger portion 65 of the shaft29 as shown in FIG. 1. By this arrangement of parts any relativerotation between the elongated members 66 and shaft 29 will cause thecylinder to either move downwardly or upwardly depending upon thedirection of its relative rotation to the shaft 29. Normally, however,the elongated member 66 will be held in an elevated position as shown inFIG. 1 by coiled spring 71 inside the upper end portion of the elongatedmember 66, having its upper end operatively connected to the elongatedmember 66 and its lower end yieldingly engaging the top of the shaft 29.Therefore, the coil spring 71 will yieldingly cause the elongated member66 to rotate clockwise relative to the shaft 29 and move upwardly untilthe parts 69 and 70 engage the top head 72 of the shaft '29. Theelongated member 66 supports two vertically adjustable material engagingarms 75 and 76. yBy this arrangement of parts material will pass fromthe hopper onto the spinning control plate 67 and from the plate 67material will be cast downwardly and outwardly to the pulley wheel 31.However, if a great amount of material exists within 4the 'hopper 21 atany one time, the resistance bar arms 75 and 76 Will engage this mass ofmaterial and will tend to slow down the rotation of the shaft elongatedmember 66 relative to the shaft 29. This will cause the elongated member66 and control plate 67 to move downwardly relative to the hopper 21 andpermit a greater amount of material to pass by the control plate 67. Assoon as the excess `amount of material in the hopper 21 has beendisposed of, the resistance to the rotation of the arms 75 and 76 willbe lessened accordingly and the spring 71 will cause the rotation of theelongated member 66 and plate 67 relative to the shaft 29 and the plate67 will move upwardly to reduce the distance between the lower end ofthe hopper 21 and plate 67. In some situations and with differentmaterials, it might be desirable to reverse the action of movement ofthe plate `67 and this may be accomplished merely by reversing the motoror reversing the rotation of the shaft 29. In such a case the plate 67would move -upwardly to restrict and prevent an excessive amount ofmaterial from passing from the hopper through the device.

As before indicated, the scatter bars 55 may be longitudinally adjustedor even adjusted to extend downwardly at various angles as shown in FIG.5 and FIG. 6. This may be accomplished by any suitable means such asplacing washers or nuts between the spoke and scatter bar with the nutsor washers embracing the bolt means.

By the use of my device there will be no dense areas in the grain or thelike accumulating in the bottom of the building. The grain or the likewill be evenly distributed and if air or warmed air is passed upwardlythrough the grain or the like, the same will evenly and uniformlycontact all of the material thereby drying it uniformly. Still anotheradvantage realized by the use of my device is the separating andelimination of dust, chaff and the like foreign matter. The reason forthis is that with the downwardly passing grain being scattered as shownin FIG. 7, the air column from the pipe l2 will pass upwardly throughsuch separated kernels of grain carrying with it the undesired lightforeign matter. The escape of this undesired foreign matter is madepossible by having the diameter of the tubular housing 16 less than thatof the diameter of the opening 1l. Also, by the hopper '2i being `spacedfrom the tubular member i6, the chaff, dirt and like 77 may passupwardly between the inside of the tubular member i6 and the outer sideof the hopper 2l. as shown in FIG. 7. Even if this rising air columndoes not remove all of the chaff and the like, the remaining foreignmatter will be evenly distributed through the collected material in thebottom of the building.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that the use of my devicedoes not only eliminate workmen inside the building as it is being lledwith material but it automatically uniformly deposits the grain or thelike into the storage area. As herebefore indicated, my apparatus may beused for the depositing of various materials.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of myMaterial Spreading Mechanism without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims,any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents whichmay be reasonably included within their scope.

l claim:

1. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in saidtubular housing, a spoked pulley wheel secured to the lower end of saidshaft, material engaging bar fins on the spokes of said pulley wheel, aprime mover having a drive shaft, a pulley wheel on said drive shaft, anendless belt embracing said two pulley wheels, a hopper having an openbottom in the upper portion of said housing, an elongated memberslidably embracing the upper end portion of `said shaft and extendingupwardly into said hopper, means for directly transmitting rotation ofsaid shaft to said elongated member, said means allowing slidingmovement of said elongated member upon said shaft, a spring means foryieldingly holding said elongated member in one direction of itsslidable movement on said shaft, a control plate on said elongatedmember and below said hopper, and at least one material engaging arm onsaid elongated member and positioned in said hopper.

2. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing detachably secured to saidbuilding and associated with its opening, a vertical shaft rotatablymounted in said tubular housing, a spoked pulley Wheel secured to thelower end of said shaft, material engaging bar tins on the spokes ofsaid pulley Wheel, a prime mover having a drive shaft, a pulley Wheel onsaid drive shaft, an endless belt embracing said two pulley wheels, ahopper having an open bottom in the upper portion of said housing, anelongated member slidably embracing the upper end portion of said shaftand extending upwardly into said hopper, means for directly transmittingrotation of said shaft to said elongated member, said means allowingsliding movement of said elongated member upon said shaft, a springmeans for yieldingly holding said elongated member in one direction ofits slidable movement on said shaft, a control plate on said elongatedmember and below said hopper, and at least one material engaging arm onsaid elongated member and positioned in said hopper.

3. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical. tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in saidtubular housing, a spoked pulley wheel secured to the lower end of saidshaft, material engaging bar fins on the spokes of said pulley wheel, aprime mover having a drive shaft, a pulley wheel on said drive shaft, anendless belt embracing said two pulley Wheels, a hopper having an openbottom in the upper portion of said housing, an elongated memberslidably embracing the upper end portion of said shaft and extendingupwardly into said hopper, means for directly transmitting rotation ofsaid shaft to said elongated member, said means allowing slidingmovement of said elongated member upon said shaft, a spring means foryieldingly holding said elongated member in one direction of itsslidable movement on said shaft, a control plate on said elongatedmember and below said hopper, and at least one material engaging armvertically adjustable on said elongated member and positioned in saidhopper.

4. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in saidtubular housing, a spoked pulley Wheel secured to the lower end of saidshaft, material engaging bar fins longitudinally adjustable on thespokes of said pulley wheel a prime mover having a drive shaft, a pulleywheel on said drive shaft, an endless belt embracing said two pulleywheels, a hopper having an open bottom in the upper portion ofA saidhousing, an elongated member slidably embracing the upper end portion ofsaid shaft and extending upwardly into said hopper, means for directlytransmitting rotation of said shaft to said elongated member, said meansallowing sliding movement of said elongated member upon said shaft, aspring means for yieldingly holding said elongated member in onedirection of its slidable movement on said shaft, a control plate onsaid elongated member and below said hopper, and at least one materialengaging arm on said elongated member and positioned in said hopper.

5. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in saidtubular housing, a spoked pulley wheel secured to the lower end of saidshaft, material engaging bar tins on the spokes of said pulley wheel, aprime mover having a drive shaft, a pulley Wheel on said drive shaft, anendless belt embracing said two pulley wheels, a hopper having an openbottom in the upper portion of said housing, an elongated memberslidably embracing the upper end portion of said shaft and extendingupwardly into said hopper, means for directly transmitting rotation ofsaid shaft to said elongated member, said means allowing slidingmovement of said elongated member upon said shaft, a spring means foryieldingly holding said elongated member in one direction of itsslidable movement on said shaft, a control plate on said elongatedmember and below said hopper, and at least one material engaging arm onsaid elongated member and positioned in said hopper; at least one ofsaid material engaging bar fins being vertically angularly adjustablerelative to the pulley wheel spoke to which it is secured.

6. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in saidtubular housing, a spoked pulley wheel secured to the lower end of saidshaft, material engaging bar fins on the spokes of said pulley wheel, aprime mover having a drive shaft, a

7 pulley wheel on said drive shaft, an endless belt embracing said twopulley Wheels, a hopper having an open bottom in the upper portion ofsaid housing, an elongated member slidably embracing the upper endportion of said shaft andextending upwardly into said hopper, means for4directly transmitting rotation of said shaft to said elongated member,said means allowing sliding movement of said elongated member upon saidshaft, a spring means for yieldingly holding said elongated member inone direction of its slidable movement on said shaft, a control plate on-said elongated member and below said hopper, at least one materialengaging arm on said elongated member and positioned in said hopper,land a downwardly'and outwardly extendingilangeon at least one of saidbar fins. 1 7. In combination, a storage material building having anopening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing. secured to saidbuilding and associated rwithyits opening.

a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in said' tubularlhousL ing, a spokedpulley wheel secured to theilowerfendof said shaft, material engaging-bar tins on `the'fspokes 'ojf said pulley wheel, a prime moverhavingfafdrive' shaft, p,

a pulley Wheel on said drive shaft, an endless belt'` ern-v bracing saidtwo pulley wheels, a hopper havinganfjopem Y bottom Vin the. upper'portion' ofV said yhousing,anluelon-- gated member slidably-embracingftheiupp'er'endportion of said shaft and extendingupwardlyinto 'said hopper,

means for directly transmitting rotationl of said shaV said elongatedmember, said means allowing movement of said elongated memberuponsaidshaft,

a spring means -for yieldingly holding said elongated member in one-direction of its slidable movement 'onfsaid v shaft, a control plate`on said elongated member 1an below said hopper, at least 'one materialengaging -a n on said elongated member and positioned in saidphop` meansIfor shifting the position of 'said'prime moverrel tive to said spoked.pulley wheel, and a belt loop'braeket substantially embracing saidendless belt and operar"l ly secured to said tubular housing. i

8. In combination, a storage'r'naterial building ha an openingl in itsupper area, avertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening', a vertical shaft rotatably mounted Vinsaid tubular hou ing, a spoked pulley,wheel secured to the lower: ofsaid shaft, material engaging bar fins on the spoke said pulley wheel, aprime mover having a drive shaj a pulley Iwheel on said drive shaft, anendless beltje'n ing, a spoked pulley wheel secured to the lower end ofsaid shaft, material engaging bar ns on the spokes of said pulley wheel,a prime mover having a drive shaft, a pulley wheel on said drive shaft,an endless belt ernbracing said two pulley wheels, a hopper having anopen bottom in the upper portion of said housing, an elongated memberslidably embracing the upper end portion of said shaft and extendingupwardly into said hopper, means for directly transmitting rotation ofsaid shaft to said elongated member, said means allowing slidingmovement of said elongated member upon said shaft, a spring means foryieldingly holding said elongated member in one direction of itsslidable movement on said shaft, a control plate on said elongatedmember and below said hopper, and at least one material engaging arm onsaid elongated member and positioned in said hopper; said hopper beingspaced apart from the inside of said tubular housing.

10. In combination, a storage material building having an opening in itsupper area, a vertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, vertically adjustable hook arms on saidtubular housing for engaging said building and suspending said tubularhousing in said building below the opening in the upper ythe lower endof said shaft, material engaging bar iins on [the spokes of said pulleywheel, a prime mover having l a drive shaft, a pulley wheel on saiddrive shaft, an endless belt embracing said two pulley wheels, a hopperhaving an open bottom in the upper portion of said housing, vran'elongated member slidably embracing the upper end `piofrtionof saidshaft and extending upwardly into said hopper, means for directlytransmitting rotation of said shaft to "said elongated member, saidmeans allowing slidbottom in the' upper portionof said housing, anelongated` member slidably embracing the upper end portio'rrpfelongatedmember, said means allowing sliding move-V ment of said elongated memberupon said shaft, a spring means for yieldingly holding said elongatedmember in one direction of its slidable movement on said shaft, acontrol plate on said elongated member and below Vsaid hopper, at leastone material engaging arm on said elongated member and positioned insaid hopper, means for shifting the position of said prime moverrelative to lsaid spoked pulley wheel, and a belt loop bracketsubstantially embracing said endless belt and operatively'secured tosaid tubular housing; part of said belt loop extending into the grooveof said spoked pulley wheel or clearing said groove of undesirableforeign matter.

9. In combination, a storage material building having an openingin itsupper area, arvertical tubular housing secured to said building andassociated with its opening, a 'vertical shaft rotatably mounted in saidtubular housrfing-[movement of said elongated member upon said shaft, aspring means Ifor yieldingly holding said elongated meinber-1in onedirection of its slidable movement on said shaft, a ''ontrol plate onsaid elongated member and below said zhop'per, and at least one materialengaging arm on said 4rd elongated member and positioned in said hopper.

1.17. ln'co'mbination, a'storage` material building hav- .ingan openingin its upper area, a vertical tubular hous- 'ing securedto said buildingand associated with its opening, javertical shaft rotatably mounted insaid tubular housing, a spoked pulley wheel securedto'the lower end'of'said shaft; material engaging bar iinson the spokes of said pulleywheel, a prime mover `havingra drive shaft, bracing saidtwo pulleywheels, a hopper having anopen; j f

Ia' .pulley wheel on said drive4 shaft, an endless belt embracing saidtwo pulley wheels, a hopper having an open bottomin'the upper portion ofsaid housing, an auger thread on the upper portion of said verticalshaft, an

-elongated'member rotatably slidably embracing the upper portion of*said vertical shaft and extending upwardly into said hopper, pinsextending through said an elongated memberv and in engagement with theauger thread on said vertical shaft, a coil spring in said an elongatedmember having one end engaging said an elongated member and its otherend yieldingly engaging the top end of said vertical shaft, a materialcontrol plate on said an elongated member and below said hopper, and atleast one material engaging member on said an elongated member Vandpositioned Within said hopper.

References Cited in the tile of this patent Donelson Apr. 18, 1961

